Forever Young
by Optimus95
Summary: An ageing 87 years old Clay Jensen has been taken ill and hospitalised, knowing he's knocking on death's door soon with Tony right by his bedside Clay's scared of dying alone and where he's going next. Will he get the chance to meet up with Hannah Baker one more time before he dies?


_/Author's note-Sorry if this story is really long to read and also I'm sorry if I offend anyone with any religious views concerning death and where we go next when we die. This story is a bit of fun and some closure to Clay and Hannah, please leave a review/_

The last Friday of every month I would go down and visit Hannah's grave and would just talk to her, tell her how I was feeling and getting on with my life and how well the charity I set up in her name The Hannah Baker Foundation was doing across the country, helping thousands of lives to the victims of sexual abuse/rape, suicidal thoughts and bullying. I would go around high schools across the states and tell them Hannah's story and where to find help if anyone was feeling the same like Hannah was and picking up on signs if a loved one is destressed or distant themselves from others. Informing the kids at various high schools that it's ok to not be ok and there's nothing to be ashamed of if you need help opening up and talking about any mental health issues they might have.

Over the last couple of days after my travels across the states I'd been taken seriously ill from the deadly flu that was spreading across the country and found myself unwillingly dragged to the hospital by Tony to get myself checked up and get my flu jabs done. Over the next few days while I was keep in hospital (not by choice) I saw my own health deteriorate rapidly, I just knew I didn't have that long left on this planet so I signed my DNR form and felt much weaker as the days pasted by while I lay in my bed. Tony would visit me every day for a couple of hours which I was really grateful for the company in this busy hospital when I was left on my own from time to time during the day unsupervised

'How are you feeling Clay?'

The sound of Tony's voice pulled me out of my train of thoughts as I stopped staring out the window in the room and saw him standing there in the doorway, he walked in and dropping down in the empty chair next to my bed, shredding off his leather jacket he still wears to this very day

'I'm doing ok Tony, really good to be honest' I greeted warmly, putting on a small brave smile

'How are you really doing?' he repeated, knowing damn straight that I was bullshitting him and raised a brow

I let out a tired breath I was holding and shook my head as I spoke. 'I'm feeling exhausted Tony and…and I'm scared'

'Scared? Scared of what Clay'

'Of where I'm going next' I whispered

'I don't understand Clay, what do you mean where are you going?' he confusedly asked

'When I die Tony' I admitted, wiping the tears away from my eyes with the sleeves of my hospital gown. 'I'm scared I won't meet up with my family again, won't meet up with Hannah ever again'

'Don't talk like that Clay you're not going to die just yet. You got a few more years left with me before you go meet up with Hannah and your family again' he proclaimed, holding the tears back in his eyes. 'You promised to see the latest Star Wars spin off movie with me so you can't go dying on me now Jensen'

'That is true' I sighed gently, Tony's hand landing on top of my mine assuringly

We both chuckled lightly at the thought of that and my mind went straight back to the conversation we had months ago of actually dressing as jedis and bringing lightsabers to the Crestmont in our old age. A nasty coughing fit hit me deep inside my chest that had me gasping for air and water immediately, God I could already feel death worming its way through my body at every sharp intake of breath I took.

'You alright Clay? Shall I get a nurse?' Tony asked worryingly, handing me a glass of water

'No I'm fine Tony, just need the water that's all'

'You don't sound fine Clay I'm gonna call the nurse anyway to check you over' he exclaimed, leaving my room to go in search of a nurse

'Great' I sighed, rolling my eyes as I sipped down some water

I knew Tony's intentions were in the right place but I knew deep down my number was up and my time was shortly running out, I didn't need the doctors to tell me any different and give me false hope to what I already know….

It was late into the night and Tony had decided to stick around and had fallen asleep in the chair next to my bed, I sighed gently and thought how lucky I was to have a best friend like him for all these years that looked out for me. My body felt foreign to me and much weaker than before during my stay at the hospital. Closing my eyes I thought a few hours of sleep might do me good, my world went black and peaceful knowing I entered the world of sleep as my heart relaxed from beating too fast to a gentle slow rhythm carrying me off to sleep….

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't at all and all I saw was pitch black still and the next thing I knew was that I was floating above, seeing the world I was leaving behind one last time before heading up into the clouds above. A blinding bright white light beaconed in front of me and I was curious to what it was, I gently moved a step forward into the unknown unsure whether I'd still be standing on the cloud or falling back down to earth, my foot stood on the cloud and hastily I made my way closer to the blinding white light to reach it.

'Hello' I cried out helplessly

Nothing. No sound or person appeared before me when I entered into the bright white light into a small white room. I didn't know where I was and this had to be the weirdest dream I ever had in my entire life. Taking a look around the whole room there still was no one there and I didn't know how to leave as the bright white light entrance had vanished now. Slapping my hands over my eyes I shook my head in disbelief to how I got here

'Hey you' a soft voice greeted

I knew that beautiful voice a mile off even if I last heard it seventy years ago but it just couldn't be could it?

I turned around to see Hannah Baker stood behind me, her smile gorgeous as ever that could light up a room, her hair had returned to its natural length before she cut it and Hannah was wearing a white dress, her cheeks had stained pink. What she blushing? Hannah walked toward me as I stood in utter shock from what I was seeing

'Hannah' I exclaimed. 'Is it really you?'

'Yes Helmet' she replied teary eyed

'This isn't a messed up dream is it, it's really you Hannah'

'This isn't a dream Clay it's really me you dork' she laughed lightly

I caught Hannah off by surprise and leaped forward and embraced her into a deep hug, tears were streaming down my cheeks as I buried my head in the crook of her neck, Hannah wrapped her arms around me and gently rubbed my back to calm me down

'How long has it been since we last saw each other?' she asked

'It's been too long Hannah, it's been seventy years but I'm so glad I finally got to see you again. I've missed you'

'I've missed you too astronomy boy'

'It feels so good to hold you in my arms again Hannah' I cried, trying to hold back the tears there were flowing freely

'Hey…..hey don't cry Helmet or you're going to set me off as well' she replied, pulling me closer to her and stroked the back of my head like I was a little child. 'You still got helmet hair Helmet'

'Sorry' I chuckled lightly, pulling away from Hannah but keeping hold of her hands. 'Where are we Hannah? And how did I get here'

'I can't really say much to you Clay about that at the minute but the one thing I can tell you I'm your guardian angel and right now you have a decision to make'

'A decision' I questioned, quite puzzled to what it could be

'Your soul is dying Helmet. You have to choose to either carry on living and I'll send you back to your body or you can just let go and be with me in eternity' she informed me

'I want to let go Hannah, I've waited long enough without you and now I just want to be with you, my guardian angel' I admitted straight away

Hannah smiled weakly and gently rubbed her thumbs over my knuckles assuringly, I knew something was on Hannah's mind when she goes quiet when she want to ask something important

'What is it Hannah what's wrong' I asked curiously

'Before we go into eternity…you get a choice to relook over your life again Clay and let go of any past regrets you may have before entering the next. Do you want to do that Helmet?'

I smiled weakly and felt tears in my eyes knowing I need to let go of some regrets that I still carry with me after decades of them happening.

'Yes Hannah'

'Okay I'll help you see those memories again'

I nodded my head and before us a screen appeared as we turned to face it, I kept a hold of Hannah's hand and our fingers were till entwined together, she rubbed my knuckles ever so gently as my life started to play out before me of my regrets….

It started with the day I found out Hannah died and how I didn't reach out to her more after Jessica's party and everything that went down between us and how I cried for hours on end for what she done to herself, next came Tyler and the photo I took of him and sent it around high school through to traumatising Courtney to see her grave and keying Zack's car with 'WHY ME'. My life was flash forwarding to my twenties, thirties and forties and with the regret of never fully moving on from Hannah Baker and continuing to live my life with starting a family of my own instead of being trapped in the past with those memories I held on so tight….

My life video came to an end and I had tears in my eyes and I looked over to Hannah, she held back tears in her eyes seeing how much her death affected my life so much even when didn't want to hurt me. I turned to face her and wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks

'You ok Hannah?'

She nodded her head slightly before shaking no as more tears left her eyes. 'Why Helmet why didn't you carry on with your life'

'I couldn't tho'

'I was gone I was long gone Helmet why would you do that to yourself'

'In fear of losing my memories of you Hannah. I was scared of loving someone else and that they would die as well I couldn't go through that heartbreak again that I suffered with you'

'I would have been happy for you if you met someone else and started a family I still would have waited for you Helmet to just see you again after all these years' she admitted, her tears becoming an ocean

'I just couldn't Hannah it would have felt like I was cheating on you no matter how hard I tried to push those feelings away I just couldn't start over with anyone without wishing it was with you' I proclaimed, stating my truths

Hannah nodded her head and accepted my reason I didn't move on from her and composed herself before speaking again. 'I want to say thank you Helmet'

'For what'

'Keeping me alive in your memories and saving so many lives across the years' Hannah informed

'You know about that Hannah?'

'That you started a charity in my name Helmet, I always know' she smiled, winking her eye

'What else do you know that I've done for you?' I exclaimed happily

'I know that when I died you visited my grave every year without fail on my birthday and valentine's day with my favourite flowers and Mike and Ike. It was nice to know someone else still cared about me still other than my parents and Tony on them days, thank you Helmet' Hannah replied, kissing my cheek softly

The moment she pulled away from kissing my cheek Hannah started to disappear before my very eyes as I jerked forward to stop her from going. Hannah was gone as I looked around the room hoping she'd appear again as tears left my eyes

'Hannah' I cried out, feebly walking around the room to find her again. 'Hannah please come back…..please I need you'

I couldn't see through my watery eyes around the room when a silhouette appeared through my blurry vision, soft hands landed on my cheeks and thumbs stroking away my tears as I sighed in relief that Hannah was back in front of me again

'Your time is running out Clay you need to decided now'

'I've made up my mind my time is up Hannah let's just go and be in eternity together'

'Okay Helmet' she smiled

'Can I ask you something before we go Hannah?' I interjected

'Sure….anything you name it' she replied

'Will I always be this old in eternity? I mean how does it work there in eternity'

'You get to choose what you look like in eternity from a period of time during your life' she informed me. 'I choice this form because it was one of the happiest times of my life and when I first met you Helmet'

'And one last thing before we go will I still have my memories of my life in eternity'

'Only some Clay not all….I'm sorry'

'Don't be ok Hannah' I sighed heavily, ducking my head down in disappointment hoping that I didn't lose all the happy memories I had with Hannah and my family

'I'm gonna prove to you how important memories are Clay Jensen' Hannah admitted, cupping my cheeks and drawing my gaze up to her. 'Memories becomes stories when we forget them and maybe some of them becomes songs'

'That would be nice'

'Yeah it would be wouldn't it Helmet' she admitted

Hannah held up her hand in front of me and snapped her fingers together, the white bright room turned into the school gym hall full of decorations from the winter formal seventy years ago with lights reflecting off the disco ball with the ambiance of navy blue and purple lighting up the room. Hannah's white dress turned into her beautiful lace purple dress all those years ago.

My ageing old body had transformed to a younger form when I first attend the winter formal seventy years ago as I stepped onto the dance floor, meeting Hannah in the middle while our song had just started to play. My hands landed on Hannah's waist as she wrapped her arms around my neck bringing our bodies closer together while we swayed to our song

'Oh take me back to the night we met Helmet' Hannah sang along

I sighed happily and drew my forehead closer to Hannah and rested against hers, both of us were just content with each other in this moment, not wanting leave just yet and maybe just have a few minutes to dance to our song before we go. I felt something touch my forehead as I pulled away sharply

'What is it Clay' she asked

'I felt something touch my head it felt like a kiss' I informed, touching the spot where I felt someone's lips

'Our time is up Helmet' Hannah admitted, sighing happily as the song ended. 'It's time to go now in eternity'

'Together?'

'Forever Helmet' she replied, squeezing my hands

I smiled widely at Hannah before ducking my head down to hers, slowing rubbing the tip of my nose against hers before leaning forward and connecting our lips together, slowly exploring her mouth and deepening the kiss. Pulling away breathlessly as I saw the huge smile on Hannah's face as she leaned forward and connected our lips together again, slowly entering the blinding white light that appeared in the room as we entered into eternity to spend forever together we each other, the way it should have been the first time around before we were robbed of that but now we got our time together to be happy…..

Tony's P.O.V

My eyes fluttered open from my nap in the chair and I looked at the clock on the wall, it was well past midnight then I looked over to Clay who was awake most nights in worry and wanting to get out of hospital asap but he wasn't awake this time which I found quite strange that he was still asleep.

'Clay' I whispered. 'You awake Clay'

Clay lay in bed motionless and I got up out of my seat and walked over to the bed to check on him, I grabbed his arm and checked his pulse to which I could feel a beat that was dropping gently by the minute that his soul was finally letting go of this world. I looked towards his face and for the first time in years I saw a genuine smile on Clay's face that wasn't forced and I just knew, he got what he really wanted and finally met up with Hannah again after so many decades apart and so I'm happy for him that they're together now in eternity

I bent down and brushed away Clay's helmet hair and kissed his forehead gently while still holding onto his hand. Gently rubbing my thumb over his soft knuckles to sooth his dying body

'I'll see you soon Clay, I hope you and Hannah will be waiting for me when it's my time to meet you two again' I croaked

Patting the back of his hand gently I placed it down on the bed and made Clay as comfortable as I could with his last few breathe left, watching as the machine showing his heart rate had started to flat line, taking one last look at my best friend from the door before going off to find a nurse and informing her that my last remaining friend had sadly for me has passed away….


End file.
